This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
- KJV Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
- NKJV “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east And from the land of the west;
- NASB The Lord of armies says this: ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;
- NLT “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will save His people from the east and the west, regathering the scattered exiles. He will bring His dispersed people home from every direction.
Overview
The promise of regathering from all lands fulfills the hope of return from exile and reverses the scattering of 7:14. The worldwide sweep, east and west, hints at the wider ingathering of God's people from all nations. It foreshadows the gospel's gathering of believers from every corner of the earth into one people (John 11:52).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 31:8Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
- Mal 1:11For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Amos 9:14–15I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Isa 27:12–13In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
- Isa 49:12Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”
- Isa 43:5–6Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
- Ps 50:1A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.
- Isa 59:19So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.
- Isa 11:11–16On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Rom 11:25–27I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- Hos 11:10–11They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
- Isa 66:19–20I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
- Ezek 37:19–25you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick, and they will become one in My hand.’
- Ps 113:3From where the sun rises to where it sets, the name of the LORD is praised.
- Ps 107:2–3Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 8:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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